What's in your comfort zone?

John's gospel's not the only ones with complicated sermons. With John about to describe the feeding of the 5,000, we return to Matthew, Mark and Luke to find another sermon, and the sending out of the twelve, just before that miraculous meal. Matthew gives more details of Jesus' sermon (his second recorded in Matthew, after the Sermon on the Mount), and we'll look more at that next week. Meanwhile today we look at twelve rather ordinary men sent out to do something well outside their comfort zone. What's in your comfort zone?

(38) Harvest Time

Returning to Matthew’s account at this point, we find Jesus sending out the twelve disciples to preach and teach “in his name,” a nice echo to what we’ve just read in John about Jesus speaking in the Father’s name. When someone preaches a sermon, or teaches through a book we’re reading, or speaks about faith on TV, how do we tell whose name they are speaking in?

Read Matthew 9:35-38, Luke 10:1-2 Luke places the “harvest is great” statement later in Jesus’ ministry, but it was obviously a memorable statement. What do we think it means?

1.       Verse 35 What is Jesus doing? How does he live at this time?

2.       Verse 36 How might Jesus feel about the “multitudes” of this country? Of war-torn countries? Of countries stricken by poverty of famine? How do we feel about those who suffer and, perhaps, disagree with us?

Jesus gives his disciples various instructions as he sends them out to teach. The passage in Matthew is the second of Jesus’ “five teaching sections” in Matthew. (The first is the Sermon on the Mount which we read earlier.)

1.       Read Matthew 10:1-4, Luke 9:1-2, Mark 6:7-8

a.       We’ve read the list of disciples before. What types of people are included?

b.      What “power” are the “laborers” given? What power might modern-day laborers for Jesus need?

c.       What’s the significance of traveling two by two?

2.       Read Matthew 10:5-10, Luke 9:3, Mark 6:8-9

a.       Why might Matthew be the only one to mention that they’re only going to preach to Jews?

b.      Do you think they were only sent out once, or perhaps several times to different groups of people? (Read Luke 10:1-4)

c.       We’ve read “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” before (Read Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15). What sense of urgency does this give? When might we feel the same sense of urgency? Is this the same as “The end of the world is at hand?”

d.      Why should or shouldn’t they carry a staff? (And does it matter which?)

3.       Read Matthew 10:11-15, Mark 6:10-11, Luke 9:4-5

a.      Why stay in one household? What might be a modern equivalent, say, for a preacher, for someone seeking a church home, for someone uncomfortable with their church home?

b.      What might shaking off the dust mean? (Pharisees shook off the dust when they left Gentile homes.)

c.       What could be worse than Sodom and Gomorrah? (And why is Jesus talking about endtimes?)

4.       Read Luke 10:5-12 What differences do you spot?

5.       Read Matthew 11:1, Luke 9:6, Mark 6:12-13 Where are the disciples going?

a.       Could the 70 have been traveling further afield in Luke 10?

b.      Could that explain the differences in the passages?

c.       Where are we going? And what “rules” should we follow in speaking about the kingdom?